Anne Arundel reports 128 new cases as county’s positivity rate nears 7%
Another 128 cases were reported Saturday in Anne Arundel County. The virus has killed at least 555 county residents since the pandemic began, and 14 others are suspected of having died of the virus but were never tested.
The number of tests coming back positive in the state is 5.82%, and higher in Anne Arundel at 6.84%.
The county and state case rate went down slightly Saturday, with the state at 21.15 cases per 100,000 people and the county at 22.17 cases per 100,000 people.
There are more than 1,000 people hospitalized around the state, as officials work to distribute vaccinations to provide immunity from COVID-19’s most serious symptoms.
The state reported that April 3 there were 1,064 people hospitalized with COVID, and of those 259 needed intense care. Hospitalizations have been increasing since mid-March when the number of residents being admitted fell to 765.
Since last March, 39,345 county residents and 415,660 Marylanders have had COVID-19.
Statewide another 1,275 cases were reported Saturday, along with 23 deaths. So far 8,157 Marylanders have died from the virus.
Vaccinations: As of Saturday, 1,084,607 people in Maryland were fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
State data on Saturday, showed Maryland providers had administered more vaccines than have been delivered to the state. A spokesman for the State Health Department
said those numbers include federal institutions based in Maryland, such as the U.S. Veterans Affairs Department.
The state on Thursday opened preregistration for everyone age 16 and older who wants a vaccine.
The county is now vaccinating people in Phase 2B, which includes people aged 16 and older who have disabilities or underlying medical conditions that increase the risk of severe COVID-19 illness.
The county will continue vaccinating people covered under all previous phases, including everyone older than 60 and various essential workers.
Phase 2C, which includes everyone 55 and older as well as essential workers, will begin on April 13. Everyone not covered in a previous category will be eligible for the vaccine on April 27.